Feathers, Scales, and Sleek Skins

Friday, 1 May 2015
Gulf Waters RV Park — Port Aransas, Texas
Temps: Hi 77F (25C) / Lo 65F (18C)

Mother Nature smiled on us this past week and we wrapped up April — the fourth wettest in this area since they started keeping records — with lovely days.

Temps in the mid-70F (± 23C) range … sunshine and blue skies … and best of all, no humidity!  At least one reservoir has benefited from all the wet stuff that has been falling from the sky.  Though for how long?  That’s the big question.  In any event, we’ve been enjoying the turnaround in the weather!

The first day of May dawns with a lovely sunrise over our pond at GWRVR.             

My friend Mary is an avid birder.  “I’ve been at this for only eight years, so I’m a newbie,” she says.  I think she’s being modest.  It is one of — if not the primary — reason she and Tony visit Port A in the spring.  She’s been going around to all the birding hotspots since they arrived at GWRVR at the end of March.  And she’s been trying to get me to go along with her.

The problem is that after four months of being attached to my camera at the hip — or eye, as the case might be — I had no desire to take photos.  So, go anyway, right?  Enjoy the birds through binoculars.  Well, I’m not that kind of a birder.  I enjoy our colorful, feathered friends; but I’m a photographer and if I don’t click the shutter, birding is no fun for me.

A tranquil morning of reflections in B&W.

Well, I finally set out with Mary today to make the rounds of the birding sites in Port Aransas.  Wouldn’t you know it — the birds were gone.  What was our first clue?  The parking lots that had been crammed with vehicles were empty!  Oh well.  There were enough birds and other critters to still make it a worthwhile outing for me — especially since I had Mary for company and saw several new-to-me birds.

And on that note … let’s start out at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center.

American Coot

American Coot

Great Blue Heron

Black-Necked Stilts

Cormorants

Off we went to Charlie’s Pasture next.  Here we stopped to check out the bottlenose dolphins — including a mom and calf — that were working the seawall along the ship channel, feeding on schooling fish and probably some algae as well.  My best dolphin sighting thus far, but it did make me sad to see all the healed cuts from the boat encounters they have in the channel.

Mary captures me capturing a dolphin working the seawall.

From Mary's perspective as a dolphin approaches the seawall.

We’re not the only ones enjoying the dolphin sighting;
the ruddy turnstones are checking them out as well.

[In case you can’t make it out, there is a dolphin just where the seawall bumps out.]

After getting our fill of the dolphins, we set off to see what birds might still be at CP.  Turns out, not many.  Can’t say the same about the mosquitoes, however.  They were swarming.  So much so that, we hot-footed it back to the pavilion at the start of the trail after just a few minutes of walking.

Left: Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher and Eastern Kingbird.

Right: Tropical Kingbird or Couch's Kingbird ... only way to tell
the difference is by the voice, and this one wasn't performing

Barn Swallows

The third stop of the morning was at the Joan and Scott Holt Paradise Pond.  When I visited the pond last year, there was very little water in it.  This time, the water level was at capacity — and the surface was covered with duckweed, which changed the feel of the place entirely.

Red-Eared Slider

Gadwalls (I think; I could be persuaded otherwise).

Gadwalls (???).

Then, back to the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center we went … our timing was perfect.  No sooner were we on the boardwalk that we heard the roar of a bull alligator — Boots was calling out to and scurrying across the pond to his mate, Bags.  Boots and Bags — you get it ;-)  Love was definitely in the air, and for a minute or two — or 15, or 20 — it looked like there might be some “action.”  But they flirted for a while in the age-old alligator way, and then fell asleep ;-)

Mary captures me from the birding tower as I ...

... photograph alligator trails.

Tri-Colored Heron

Cormorant	Roseate Spoonbill

Black-Necked Stilt

One of my favorite sightings of the day was a black-crowned night heron (juvenile) … just look at those bold, brilliant eyes.  I just couldn’t resist spending time with it.

White Ibis (Juvenile)

Black-throated Green Warbler (female or juvenile is my best guess).

But my birding day wasn't done when we left LTBC.  Back home at GWRVR, I got to enjoy the company of a lone wading bird that has been coming around our pond for a day or two now.

Spotted Sandpiper

It was a great day … and I’m just sorry I waited this far into the spring migration to get my camera out and go out to the birding sites around the area.  If I am here next spring, I’ll try to do better.